Laura Unleashed: Marketers’ Community Transformation Talk
Laura King, Marketers’ Community (MC) founder, built this community by uplifting others and setting the stage for marketers to have exchanges and conversation. Somewhere along the way, the idea was planted that she herself should step onto the stage to deliver an MC Transformation Talk. In late 2023, the vision was set and Laura delivered her talk: Creating Authenticity, Purpose and Fulfillment In Your Career, at the January 16 event at Heroic Productions.
Taking a cue from what makes a successful TEDx Talk, Laura went way beyond sharing a presentation on finding purpose in your career. She got vulnerable, authentic, shared the experiences and emotions of her personal and professional journey, and connected that all to a huge why and purpose statement. It was all necessary and brilliant and delivered with the intent to demonstrate the transformative nature of the work of understanding and living in purpose.
Connecting to Purpose
For so many, we mentality keep the boxes of personal life and career separate. We can focus on pursuing career goals, milestones, and financial outcomes with an end in mind, not being aware of or daring to connect our gifts to our career or livelihood. Laura asserts that this connection is so important – for humans and our companies. She says, “Yeah… [not connecting your gifts or purpose to your career]…it’s a problem in America.” For example, disengaged employees cost U.S. companies around $400-500B each year, and 73% of employees would consider leaving if the right place called to hire them.
She prompted the audience to think about what’s happening in life at this particular moment in January 2024. If you’re able to articulate what you want, you should dig deeper to find out why you want it. Do you believe you can get what you want? (p.s. because until that happens, you won’t). Are there limiting beliefs at play? Are there shifts you can make to challenge outdated assumptions? Laura suggests that we write our own obituary, or legacy statement, to vision a more compelling story about our journey and values that can successfully guide one in making daily decisions that align with that.
A Model for Purpose
In Laura’s model for purpose there is a horizontal access of attitude and action, and a vertical access of awareness with an intersection of alignment at the center of it. Overarching it all is the sun, a metaphor for purpose and fulfillment in career and life. She walks us through the definition of intention, the importance of gifts (know them, honor them, use them; if you don’t know your gift(s), text five people you know and ask them), passion, and awareness.
On another slide she shares, she sprinkles in the word resistance everywhere and a personal story with the sentiment the audience related to, “it’s hard.” It’s hard because seeking purpose by going inward and trusting intuition and your gifts is not always feasible, popular, understood, or supported. But we must do it anyway.
Let’s Shine More in 2024
What a compelling vision and reason for each and everyone in the room to open up to purpose and take action to align more closely to theirs. Then to bring it back up to macro, Laura, in these powerful words, says, “Companies that will win… in a sea of disengaged employees, encouraging each to shine brighter, connect their sun to the company sun.”
The event ended with attendees working in groups of 5-6 to address questions like what does it look like when your career/life flourish? Have you fallen into the trap of following someone else’s expectations? What kind of impact do you want to make on others? After 15 minutes of discussion, a handful of attendees got up on stage to vulnerably or uncomfortably in some instances, share their own experiences and insights. The stories were so compelling and they made 2024 not only feel possible, but probable. It’s time to unleash your purposeful selves, Twin Cities Marketers’ Community!
